Students perform how we expect them to 🎭 The Pygmalion Effect shows that teacher expectations shape outcomes more than many realise. https://www.innerdrive.co.uk/blog/the-pygmalion-effect/

The first follow up in my ‘Good for all, vital for some’ series on clarity of expectations in the classroom. This one is about how to get a class silent. open.substack.com/pub/ldonaghy...

Post: ● The pros of teaching without powerpoint If teaching is transmission, the presentation is a vital tool. If, we see it as conversing to coordinate the meaning of content, then PowerPoint sits in the way of interaction between teachers and students. christianmooreanderson.com/pros-of-teac...

If inclusion means doing what we have good evidence for all children better with the most vulnerable kids this will work. If it means mainstreaming common adaptations for supposedly "different" children we have little evidence for it will be a disaster. I am very nervous about the direction.

I spend a lot of time working with schools and MATs to quality assure and improve geography. One question always sits underneath: what do we actually mean by the impact of the geography curriculum? In this post I try to make my thinking visible. open.substack.com/pub/enserm/p... #GeogChat

New studies on retrieval practice, seductive details, engagement myths, reading instruction, and the cognitive costs of modern technology. open.substack.com/pub/carlhend...

NEW blog post: on the anatomy of great #classroom_explanations and the importance of #relationship jamesdurran.blog/2026/03/03/e...

Reading comprehension is not a skill. It’s an outcome of what you know. Strategies plateau. Knowledge compounds. lnkd.in/e-P9uNE2

“High standards and inclusion are two sides of the same coin.” After reading the white paper carefully and discussing it during a SENCo forum this week, I’ve written on the shift in language, and what some of this might mean for schools in practice. moderncassie.blogspot.com/2026/03/a-sh...

"As the exam season approaches, older students will likely be receiving (or searching for) helpful revision advice. Responsive Revision offers a different approach. This is a term I have been sharing with teachers, students and parents..." Blog by Kate Jones

What happens when students become co‑researchers in schools, working with #teachers to find solutions to entrenched problems? @thatpovertyguy.bsky.social explains how embedding curiosity & collaboration can change practice & improve outcomes: buff.ly/1miD6Ex #teaching #schools

Should probably write this up properly. On what I think is the fundamental flaw in the underpinning principles in the SEND white paper and why I think it makes failure inevitable.

Put up some limited edition Public Enemy SHE GOT GAME shirts to raise money for these women athletes. shop.flavorflavofficial.com

Check. Adapt. A useful resource for teachers shared by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) "Many misunderstand, so pause and fix. Some are unsure, so adapt support. Most understand, so extend and support."

@curriculumjournal.bsky.social is now on BlueSky. Please follow

In my last Substack piece I looked at the implications of the white paper for curriuclum thinking - today, I turn my attention to what it means for the classroom. open.substack.com/pub/enserm/p...

Fantastic summary, many thanks.

DfE White Paper 26 - Literacy and Oracy overview. Key implications (that I’ve gauged from my understanding of it) Hope it’s of use!

The poor state of evidence around what's best for children who find learning harder has meant we've wasted billions already. We're going to waste billions more on things that don't work. We should have begun by looking at what practice is effective and investing in that.

Framing of the white paper is wrong and as a result what's in it isn't going to work. The framing emphasises differences rather than commonalities between children. What happens when all these billions are spent and neither experiences nor outcomes are better? www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

How do we make decisions in the classroom? A thought process to break down the complexitiies of teaching: open.substack.com/pub/claireha...

Consider two students with similar abilities. The one with a stronger drive often achieves higher grades 🏆 This article explains why: https://www.innerdrive.co.uk/blog/ambition-student-grades/

Knowledge isn't the same as understanding. We can know something yet still not understand it. This is perhaps at the heart of the well established epistemological system, currently under threat. dynamiclearning.substack.com/p/disentangl...

Ditching Differentiation? "It’s fair to say that the term ‘differentiation’ has had its day in education (or at least in England). At one point, it was considered to be an integral element of lesson planning, design and delivery to ensure all learners were involved..." By Kate Jones

Where oracy is treated as a tick-box exercise in primary, this overlooks its massive potential to support pupils' writing, says teacher Louise Gaunson, who shares tips for bringing drama into lessons

New on Substack: New post: Why does dividing curriculum into knowledge components feel so unstable? Because we're imposing localist structure on a distributed system. The brain doesn't store knowledge in pieces. profbeckyallen.substack.com/p/curriculum...

SecEd Podcast: Our new episode discusses how #teachers can create the perfect classroom environment for their students, offering a range of practical tips & quick wins. We focus on four key factors: the physical, the social, the emotional & the learning environment buff.ly/ZSMJrke #teaching #schools

On the difference between learning that scales and learning that doesn't, and what a concept from computer science can teach us about where educational technology succeeds and where it reliably fails. carlhendrick.substack.com/p/the-embarr...

"the problem with much classroom feedback is not that it is poorly intentioned, but that it is misaligned. We give feedback as if it will automatically produce learning, when in reality it only produces information." What if we're giving too much feedback? Great post from @didau.bsky.social

Right, I have done another blog. This one gives advice on how to ensure whole school Inclusion. I am sure there is lots missing, but if you follow this you won't be far off. In my opinion, obviously... philsalisbury.wordpress.com/2026/02/04/s...

Teachers — want real-time insight into student understanding? Try hinge questions. A hinge question is a multiple-choice question asked at a key moment in a lesson to check whether pupils are ready to move on. A simple but powerful formative assessment tool. Read more: tinyurl.com/ad8mcyzj

If we really want to deliver effective holistic education in schools, then we need to pay more attention to the design of co-curricular activities and skills, writes vice principal Aqeel Ashiq

Some of the things we gloss over when talking about the Direct Instruction Follow Through Model educationrickshaw.com/2026/01/31/w...

Anyone else hear Joseph Jebelli on Radio 4 this am? So interesting! A brain science corrective to the 'every second counts' bombardment of young people's brains in some versions of 'science of learning' & current trends like SLANT. Staring out the window & taking breaks may help you learn more!

Good article, I stopped doing it for similar reasons. You might also like this (if you don't know it already) www.cambridge.org/insight/blog... there is a part 2 aswell.

New Blog Post 📝 I hate QLA. Originally due to the time it sucked out of my PPA I now know that QLA documents do not provide the information we think they do. I go over the justification for why I ditched QLA and the reasons why you should get rid of it too. open.substack.com/pub/joel1201...

As we brace ourselves for curriculum reform, what should a modern curriculum look like? Carolyn Roberts – @ptieducation.bsky.social – outlines a powerful knowledge approach that empowers #teachers & engages learners: buff.ly/K2GfwTH #CurriculumDesign #Education #Teaching

New study on cognitive load shows it's not a single, stable thing that students carry through a lesson. It rises, falls, peaks, and interacts with motivation. 1/4 link.springer.com/article/10.1...

So I have written another blog, still under the file 'dull but useful'. This one is parents' evening. As with everything I write, take it or leave it as you please... philsalisbury.wordpress.com/2026/01/18/p...

New blog on the potency of space open.substack.com/pub/birmingh...

‘We can look at a rising graph line and reassure ourselves that learning must have occurred and we are doing a "good" job’: Mark Zacharias warns of the dangers of schools becoming obsessed with data

When tests hit the ceiling: Why ‘ceiling effects’ matter In this blog, Professor Rob Coe explores the concept through the lens of a real research project using schools' internal assessments. Read it here: buff.ly/VXsM67a #EduBlogShare

Metacognition works — but only when pupils are taught how to use it independently. Modelling alone isn’t enough. Pupils need to understand how, when, and why strategies support learning as @kirstinmul.bsky.social's blog explains: ow.ly/atmi50XVBkB Where do your pupils need explicit support?

A fantastic blog that identifies and offers some resolution to the slow march of KS4 into KS3.

When teachers offer classroom egs, it can be SO valuable. But often there's just a snippet - a ppt slide or piece of writing & it's hard to know the context, intentions & real impact. This, on the power of Talk for Learning, is different. I love it! #oracy www.englishandmedia.co.uk/blog/oracy-i...

Make this go viral. Labour MP Louise Haigh.

I call on my party and my government to remove themselves entirely from X and communicate with the public where they actually participate online and can be protected from such illegality.

'Trust inspection must build from a clear and focused understanding of the problem it is trying to solve': @steverollett.bsky.social outlines some of the key concerns around the government's MAT inspection plans